Background and Contact Information: My contact in Jeff. Jeff is a previous neighbor and an occasional tennis partner. He is an ordained minister and a community chaplain. I requested an interview because of his involvement in our town. The mission statement of Community Chaplains of America is “To build caring relationships with the hope of gaining permission to share the life changing Good News of Jesus Christ in a non-threatening manner.” Their vision statement is, “Thousands of Chaplains serving millions of people by 2012.” Community Chaplains of America has a good website www.commchap.org that covers their mission, news, products, memberships, churches and other links. There is also a Corporate Chaplains of America that can be accessed if your company is a member.

 

Jeff and I are meeting at the Atlanta Bread Company. He drives a green jeep with a sticker that has an “E” with an arrow pointing towards the sky. Eternity is up. Dressed in Birkenstocks, khaki shorts, a wrinkled blue t-shirt, and sporting a goat-tee, Jeff’s image conveys his approachability. He lives in a 1920’s cottage with wood floors that have been freshly sanded and stained. The décor is minimal with clean lines. No extraneous nick-knacks. Jeff has kindness written all over him. He drives a truck for Hide-Away Storage and on Wednesdays works his community chaplain role. When I moved into his neighborhood he brought me a present, a pretty little gift-bag with blue tissue and ribbons. Oooo, I love presents. He told me to let him know what I thought.   Jeff is forty-nine years-old, divorced after nineteen years of marriage, and has custody of two grown teenagers. His son Tyler practices the drums everyday at 3:30. I gladly changed the time of my afternoon nap.

 

Obstacles: My biggest challenge will be to keep my biases at bay and to be objective. The second challenge will be not to scare Jeff.

 

 

Jeff, can you tell me a little bit about your function as community chaplain and how it relates to the community? “In August the ministry was grounded by prayer walks through Bradenton. At this time I was seeking God’s direction of how He was laying the ground work for this ministry. During this time God was telling me just to be available and He would bring people out who supported the ministry of chaplaincy and they would be open to me being in their neighborhoods. Since, August God has opened up three communities. One day I went to Lowe’s and was led to the neighborhood behind the store. I got out of my car not knowing exactly what I was going to do and just started walking. When I was walking around the block I passed a man walking his dog. We said hello and kept walking. Well, I ran into him again on the next block and decided I would introduce myself and tell him why I was in the neighborhood. He is Catholic but he was open to praying with me, so we prayed right there. I stayed in contact with John as a point man. On another walk thru that neighborhood he introduced me to a woman. This woman voiced concerns that her caretaker was taking advantage of her. I contacted her sister on the other coast and she ended up moving over here and living with her sister. Soon I was talking with a number of residents. There are 160 residents in the community; Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites. My object was to identify needs in the community. One of the concerns of the community is crime and we instituted a crime prevention program. Before long we had arranged a block-party for the community. One resident had a grill and we received donations from Publix, Sweetbay, and Albertsons for food. Hide-Away storage dropped mobiles that we filled full of food. Mr. Wallace, a local attorney, allowed us to use the empty lot he owns. The $250.00 permit for the party was paid for by the Kiwanis Club of Bradenton. We raised money through a raffle and bought 40 book bags worth of school supplies to give to the children, had a dunking machine for the kids, and are using the rest of the money for playground equipment we hope to buy. The Manatee County Sheriff’s department donated manpower for security. My mind drifted to separation of church and state, but I choked on my Greek pepper. God was telling me something.   A country-Christian band The Dakota Rose volunteered to play music. The minor league Pittsburg Pirate team attended and gave out autographs. We set up ministry table. Washington Mutual had a table to open checking accounts for people who didn’t have one. The YMCA was there, as was Pathways, our 12-step program for addiction. A woman from the S.A.P. program was there to answer questions about low-income, first-time home buyers. Our main purpose was to raise money for the playground equipment. We are going to approach Mr. Wallace about donating his lot, or possibly buying it with a grant to turn it into a park. A number of people accepted Jesus into their heart that day. We touched a good amount of people.”

 

Jeff, that is an awesome accomplishment, if you need anyone to help write the grant, let me know, because I need the practice. I can’t believe I just said that. Jeff, what faith is your chaplaincy? “We really are non-denominational, but Baptist based.” 

 

Jeff, do the Baptist’s interpret the bible literally or metaphorically and allegorically? “Wow, those are big words. We interpret all three ways.” Note to self-- stay monosyllabic. 

 

Jeff, I noticed according to the website, www.commchap.org that is costs two-hundred and forty-nine dollars for the Community Chaplain Empowerment Kit and another One-hundred and ninety-nine dollars for the training workbooks. Did you have to pay for this, or did the church? “I paid for it.”

 

Tell me more about your community involvement? “I visit hospitals when called upon. Perform marriages. Prior, I never performed marriages on people that lived together, but I’ve changed. As I’ve gotten older I’ve become less judgmental.   Do you know Florida is the only state in the union that doesn’t allow gay adoption? I immediately shove the shortbread cookie in my mouth. Stop thinking Kim. It is my job to be fair, truthful and balanced.

I recently did a report on how tattoos were dangerous. But you know what? After visiting a number of parlors I’ve realized they are extremely safe. Except when you get them in prison…. I try to keep an open mind. I also help people get into marriage counseling or help them find help for addiction. We have a program called Pathways that is similar to the AA. I have my brochure in a number of businesses. Carol’s Hair Salon recently gave one out to a gentleman who just lost his wife and was having difficulty with his grief. I also made contact with the manager of Sun Chase Apartments.  She recently called me because they had to let one of the property managers go because he was having personal problems. She gave Richard my number and he contacted me. He was about to get evicted and we were able to come up with five-hundred dollars to help him keep his apartment.”

 

Was he having addiction issues? “He was having problems with his marriage. He’s just immature; he wasn’t showing respect to his wife. I didn’t say that to him. I always try to be non-judgmental. He just told me a story about how he dumped a beer over his wife’s head a party. I referred him to counseling and he’s been attending our church. We won’t be able to help him with his rent again…you know those resources run dry, but we gave him an opportunity.”

 

I see in your notes you helped a family with suicide. What happened there? “I was doing pre-martial counseling for a young couple. Just before the wedding the young man contacted me with concerns. Nothing to do with suicide, but for some reason I brought the subject up. I believe God was intervening, you know, trying to give me a forewarning because it wasn’t something I would normally bring up. Anyway, a couple of weeks later his fiancé found him. He took the lawn mower into the shed, tied the safety bar you have to hold while mowing to the handle, and died of carbon monoxide poisoning. I always thought Virginia Woolf had the corner on creative suicide by walking into the water with a pocket full of rocks. Jesus, if I go that way, I’m drowning myself in a tub of Hershey’s syrup. Hide-Away Storage helped me move his fiancé back up north by donating the mobile units. Both of the families were very thankful. They couldn’t believe that someone would go through that for them. I spoke with his parents and they wanted to know where he was spiritually and they were very relieved when I told them he had accepted Jesus Christ into his heart. In fact, when they came to Florida a few months later they called me up and invited me to dinner at the Sandbar. That’s why I do this. Not for the dinner, but because of the feeling I get back for doing what I do. Okay, that gave me goose-bumps. The man is a saint.

 

Conclusion: The Bread Company is closing. I thank Jeff and tell him if I wasn’t such a herd-hating-heretic, I’d snatch him right up, but that he deserves better. That is a terrible alliteration. Tonight I’ll snuggly sleep with Shakespeare’s sonnets. Oh my God, I can’t stop. Is there any help for my wounded soul? He wants to know if I know of any single women that I might be able to set him up with. I tell him as a matter-of-fact I do. I think of Shirley and Kelly and tell him I’ll make the arrangements and get him their numbers. I tell him he’s a great man, because he is. And he has a good game of tennis. I told him earlier that I hurt my back and won’t be able to play tennis this week. Today he sends me a text message, “Kim, I am very excited about meeting Shirley and Kelly, and asked God to heal your back. Thank you for dinner.” Ibuprofen has nothing on a connection to God!  The present he gave me was five cassette tapes on how to get to heaven. He never did ask me what I thought of those cassette tapes. I gave them to a friend with an alcohol problem.